Why Movie Theaters Are Leaning on Concert Films More Than Ever — And How Artists Benefit

In the fall of 2023, Taylor Swift briefly became not just the biggest star in music, but the biggest star at the multiplex.

That October, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour opened to $93 million at the North American box office over its opening weekend, stunning the film business and helping kick off a new wave of theatrically released concert films.

Importantly, it also arrived amid a sparse theatrical release calendar due to the overlapping writers’ and actors’ strikes, making it a godsend for movie theaters that were starved for content.

In this way, it showcased the important role concert films can play for film exhibitors, which are increasingly looking to alternative content as the number of major studio releases declines and audiences stay home to stream from their couches.

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Breakthrough “ Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour completely changed the conversation,” says Brooks LeBeouf , senior vp of U.S. content at Regal Cinemas, the second-largest movie theater chain in the U.S.

“It became the highest-grossing concert film of all time and proved that audiences will turn out for premium music experiences in theaters.” The Eras Tour film, which finished its run having earned $180 million in North America and $261 million globally, according to Box Office Mojo, certainly wasn’t the first hit concert film at movie theaters in the modern era.

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, there was a wave of such films targeting young fans of stars like Hannah Montana/ Miley Cyrus (2008’s Best of Both Worlds , $65 million in North America), Justin Bieber (2011’s Never Say Never , $73 million) and One Direction (2013’s This Is Us , $29 million).

In 2009, just months after Michael Jackson ’s death, the MJ concert film This Is It also proved to be a major draw, grossing $72 million domestically.

The difference between then and now is that major studios release considerably fewer films today.

That makes concert films and other alternative content increasingly important in padding out theaters’ bottom lines, says Daniel Loria , senior vp of content strategy and editorial director at Boxoffice Media, who cites increasing consolidation as a major reason for the shift.

“In 2015, when Fox operated independently as a studio [prior to being acquired by Disney], Fox Searchlight and 20th Century Fox released 26 movies,” Loria says.

“Last year, as a division of Disney, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures combined released, I think, nine movies.